He's among their children now, Canada's notorious playground prowler, who once raped an 80-year-old disabled woman in Lethbridge, Alta., before turning his twisted sex drive to the pursuit of little kids.

Two weeks after 48-year-old Michael Sean Stanley vanished from his Edmonton home and cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet, Canadian officials now know exactly where he is -- but they aren't saying or telling.

Apparently, preventing the creep from attacking children only matters when it's on the Canadian side of the border.

All justice officials on this side will say is the high-risk offender, with criminal convictions dating back to the 1980s, is somewhere in the U.S. -- safe from prosecution and extradition, and apparently, scrutiny.

They know exactly where he is, but aren't willing to publicly share the information, not with reporters, and far more importantly, not with authorities in the States, who might warn parents if they only knew.

"Yes, I am concerned -- there are a lot of children in my subdivision," said Bill Haven, a councillor in Entiat, Wash.

"What can we do? We can get flyers out, and put his photograph up all over town."

Entiat, population 1,110, is just one of towns where dual-citizen Stanley may be lurking, based on the molester's prior history and relatives who live in the area.

Other possible hideouts include Orondo, Omak and the Wenatchee Valley, all populated areas east of Seattle in north-central Washington State -- but it's been up to local press like The Wenatchee World to speculate, because the Canadians are now silent.

When it was still believed Stanley was still in Canada, the concern was loud and clear -- described by police as "an untreated violent and sexual offender who poses a risk of significant harm to the community," when he was first released in 2011, RCMP were in a near frenzy when he vanished on Oct. 1.

There were urgent public warnings across Alberta, detailing Stanley's past and describing his escape vehicle -- and when it was suspected he might be in Saskatchewan, that was enough for RCMP to advise school lockdowns, just to protect the kids.

Jailed in 2006 for luring two developmentally handicapped boys aged 13 and nine to his apartment, Stanley is a predator expected to reoffend -- but in the region down south where he is most likely to be living, police remain in the dark.

"If we'd gotten any information on him, it would've been entered into our system," one sheriff told The Wenatchee World, and the U.S. Marshal's office has been quoted as saying they are totally unaware of Stanley's whereabouts -- nor are they looking for him, because he is not wanted there.

And that's where ridiculous international red tape has left children in the U.S., because no one can arrest the man who could eventually come skulking for a new victim.

Because he has served his time in Canada -- and removing a monitoring bracelet is not an extraditable crime -- the dual-citizen was allowed to enter the U.S. in spite of his past, and is now completely safe from Canadian law.

How a rapist with nearly 50 convictions over three decades of crime was living outside prison, monitored or not, is a question for the Canadian justice system.

But why no one from the north has made a point of publicly warning American parents is a far more urgent matter: Deciding not to pursue an extradition is one thing, but letting a dangerous pedophile stay hidden among children is just wrong.

Police in Canada have said they will work with their American counterparts to keep an eye on Stanley, but it's very clear the level of urgency that protected children in Saskatchewan and Alberta has not followed the molester to his safe haven below the 49th.

It's a matter of time before Stanley's sick urges have him prowling for another victim -- and Canada must ensure those living near Stanley are fully aware of the monster in their midst.